Americans are ignorant, Russians violent, Italians fun - and Brits are intelligent, polite, trustworthy and honest, if a bit boring.

Or so says a global survey of how 'national brands' - the images of 10 leading countries, as perceived by each other's people - are formed. Perhaps to the surprise of its diffident inhabitants, Britain comes a triumphant second.

Italy's Renaissance treasures may trump it for tourism, the 'Made in Britain' tag may be less appealing than rival American goods and the Swedes may come out top overall - but Britain's people emerge as its greatest asset in foreign eyes. They are the number one choice for multinational employers seeking staff, rated more hospitable than the famously exuberant Turks, while a thriving pop industry sees them beating American for cultural exports, despite the dominance of Hollywood films and US chart stars.

How countries are seen abroad may not always be rational, but international branding expert Simon Anholt says it is the key to understanding everything from trade flows and high politics to who wins the Eurovision song contest.

'I think of a quote from [American banker] JP Morgan, who said there are two reasons why a man buys things: a good reason, and the real reason,' said Anholt. 'Every survey I've ever seen about national competitiveness and competence is about the good reasons. The real reasons are the emotional ones: even if you are a professional investor, the heart is still as important as the mind.'

Consumers who holiday in France, adore German cars, prefer Italian opera or consider the Japanese ambitious are actually responding to branding in the same way they react to Nike or Nestlé, he argues.

His National Brands Index uses five million consumers to score countries on six points, ranging from tourism and governance to its people, culture, investment and exports.

Sweden is 'universally admired' for its peaceful and just society and stable government, even though most respondents had no idea who was in power there. It is considered a romantic holiday destination, rated for attractions such as the Ice Hotel, and its people are thought to be hospitable.

The nation of Volvos and crispbread might not have the most exciting image, but it is hard to criticise. Anholt argues: 'Basically, Sweden is the country that nobody minds.'

Britain scores highly for people, for tourism and on whether respondents would actively seek its cultural exports. Britons score 'exceptionally well' on being polite, educated, intelligent, honest and trustworthy - but they are also more likely than any other nationality to be judged boring.

Unexpectedly, it also scores highly for governance and guaranteeing international peace, suggesting Brand Britain was not overly damaged by its association with George Bush over Iraq, Anholt said. 'The perception here is that we don't have a leg to stand on in Iraq, but the general feeling [abroad] seems to be that we are not Bush's poodle but Bush's leash. Things do look different from a distance.'

Bottom of the list is Turkey - thanks to what Anholt says are rather ill-deserved associations with Islamic extremism plus poor human rights - while Russia, marked down as violent, unstable and selling little that is desirable bar guns and oil, is second from bottom.

Not all the ratings are logical: South Korea is viewed as sinister and unstable by many American respondents, but Anholt says they might be confusing it with North Korea.

Brand America however has its own problems: 10 per cent of the world considers the US government 'dangerous', rising to a quarter of Britons and Germans, due largely to Iraq.

The report argues that emotional prejudices both drive and are driven by world politics. Decisions from the awarding of the Olympic bid to negotiations over accession to the EU are influenced by branding, Anholt argues.

'Accession is like a big corporate brand such as Unilever deciding whether to buy a company: the question is will this new one enhance the corporate portfolio, or not? That's basically one of the questions the EU asks about Turkey,' he said. 'Olympic bids and the Eurovision song contest are also good examples of where the decisions are often really softer than you would imagine. In the end it's got to make good TV and it's got to feel right.'

Which might not augur well for New York's Olympic bid. Americans were twice as likely to be considered rude as any other nationality, while 15 per cent of Britons think them ignorant - perhaps not inappropriately, given that 4 per cent of Americans believe that Trafalgar Square is in China.

The US is still rated highest for goods and services, but the study says its brand has been badly tarnished by the 'deep unpopularity of its foreign policy'. If that continues, acceptance of American goods, cultural exports and tourism may be hit, it concludes.

Anholt plans to repeat the index regularly to track the progress of nations, although competition will be stiffer next time. He plans to include France and Spain, the world's two top holiday destinations, as well as Australia among other new entrants.

Downing Street welcomed the recognition for Britain in the poll, conducted jointly with internet research company GMI, adding: 'We have always said the British people are this country's greatest asset and it's good to see this being recognised by the rest of the world.'